"70 Years of the Marshall Plan" on 21.6.2017. Projections in the exhibition. Photo: Lukas Beck

"70 Years of the Marshall Plan" on 21.6.2017. Projections in the exhibition. Jakob Huetter. Photo: Lukas
Beck

"70 Years of the Marshall Plan" on 21.6.2017. Projections in the exhibition. Photo: Lukas Beck

70 Years of the Marshall Plan

Design
and implementation of the anniversary event

On 5 June 1947 George Marshall made a speech in Harvard that changed
the world: with it, the American Secretary of State and adviser to President Truman laid the foundations of the European Recovery
Program (ERP). The so-called Marshall Plan became the most successful political project in American and European history.
Between 1948 and 1952, 14 billion dollars, funded by the American taxpayer, was paid into the reconstruction programme for
Europe. Austria’s economy continues to benefit from these funds to this day, which are used to promote innovative projects
by Austrian companies and start-ups under a scheme for ERP loans granted by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws).The festivities marking the 70th anniversary of Marshall Plan aid, with speeches by Austrian President Alexander Van der
Bellen, Vice-Chancellor Wolfgang Brandstetter and the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the US Embassy in Vienna, Eugene S.
Young, demonstrate this connection between the past and the future."70 projections for 70 years": Under the artistic
direction of Virgil Widrich, a multi-disciplinary team designed the event on 21. June 2017 at METAStadt Vienna and a travelling
exhibition for the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (ERP Fund).